Businesses Reeling After Attacks

With Many Stores Closed and Customers Few, Boston's Posh Back Bay Strives to Return to Normalcy

By

Jennifer Levitz and

Joshua Dawsey

April 18, 2013 7:43 p.m. ET

BOSTON—When two bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon on Monday, 250 people were packed into the Rattlesnake Bar and Grill on Boylston Street, not far from the finish line. They all ran out the back door—without paying.

"What can you do?" said owner Tony Castagnozzi. "It was a safety issue."

ENLARGE

Police walk down Boylston Street, near the site of the blasts, on Thursday.
Associated Press

The next day—one of the restaurant's busiest days of the year—it was closed. Mr. Castagnozzi estimates the losses at $30,000 to $40,000.

The marathon has an estimated economic impact of $140 million on Boston every year. It attracts about 25,000 runners and a further half million spectators. The news coverage polishes the city's image to a sheen that glistens well beyond race day.

But Monday's bombings are draining some of that windfall. The tragedy struck in Back Bay, Boston's posh shopping and residential neighborhood, famous for boutiques, outdoor cafes and brownstones.

ENLARGE

A a sign on the door of the local Victoria's Secret store.
Reuters

Five city blocks there remained cordoned off Thursday—the largest crime scene in the city's history. Federal officials are opening up sections piece by piece after combing for evidence, allowing more stores to resume business each day, though officials say it is uncertain when the full crime scene will be cleared. Nearly 400 businesses remained closed on Wednesday, city officials said, while other merchants were feeling the pain of less foot traffic.

Terror in the U.S.

Site of the Blasts

"This is one of Boston's key retail districts and it's a real economic engine for the entire city," said Sheila Dillon, director of the city's Department of Neighborhood Development, adding that Mayor Thomas Menino "has really instructed his team to make sure that the impacted businesses get what they need." Ms. Dillon's department has opened a business-assistance center in the lobby of the Boston Park Plaza Hotel, where merchants can get guidance on recovering from damage or loss of business.

City officials are contacting insurers to implore them to be responsive to businesses and are also identifying private loan sources to help tide stores over as they await insurance payments, Ms. Dillon said. More than 100 Boston lawyers are standing by to offer pro bono legal help to merchants, she said.

Video

The FBI releases a surveillance video containing two people who appear to leave a bag where one of two bombs exploded. Video: FBI.

The FBI released images of two individuals suspected of involvement in Monday's bombings at the Boston Marathon.

"You hope this never happens, but when it does you have to deal with it," said Roger Berkowitz, president and chief executive of Boston-based restaurant chain Legal Sea Foods. Its locations in the Prudential Center and at Copley Place, closed since the bombings, are scheduled to reopen Friday. Unable to get delivery trucks through, the eateries had to throw out food valued at more than $20,000, he said.

Some Bostonians, including middle-school teacher Melissa Ginsberg, 25 years old, defiantly returned to Back Bay. On Thursday, Ms. Ginsberg toted running shoes she had just bought from the Nike store. She had been inside the store during Monday's explosions, she explained, adding, "I needed to come back and finish what I was doing. We need to show them that we're not going to change the way we live."

Explosions Rock Boston

Other pedestrians seemed more interested in snapping pictures of the makeshift memorials than spending. The sidewalk cafe at Snappy Sushi was nearly empty and the view didn't exactly whet the appetite: a National Guard Humvee and fatigue-clad military police stationed on Newbury Street, the swankiest shopping avenue in Boston. Manager Jon Rao described business as "much slower than usual," while Liina Noboa, a 26-year-old tourist from Columbus, Ohio, described the local scenery as "eerie" as she ate her California roll.

"It's been really, really bad," said Teddy Amissi, assistant manager at the Street Talk, a Prudential Center kiosk that sells colorful phone covers and accessories. "We've told some employees not to come to work."

Back Bay residents and office workers—also heavy patrons of local businesses—have been stymied, too. Officers and tanks blocked streets near the attack, checking residents' identification cards as they returned home. Some apartment buildings remained entirely closed, including 28 Exeter, a nine-story building where Paul Ferreira lives.

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The accountant had been allowed into his apartment once since Monday, for just 15 minutes. Police escorted him upstairs and stood at his door, where he collected medicine and other essentials. Mr. Ferreira, his wife and two dogs—Blackjack and Rocco—have been at the Nine Zero hotel since Monday and don't know when they can go home, he said.

The blasts that ripped through Boylston Street also shattered windows at the central Boston Public Library, which remains closed. The catering company that handles events at the library scrambled to make other arrangements for events booked this week. After a bomb sweep, the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center reopened Tuesday, and hopes are high that some 6,000 people will attend this weekend's Boston Comic Con, an event that many comic-book fans attend in costume. (No faux weaponry allowed, per rules put in place before the bombing).

At the Prudential Center office of law firm Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP, some employees are having difficulty getting through the closed areas to work. "We are smack dab in the middle of what's considered a crime scene. It's been a very difficult experience for all of us," said Jed Hendrick, the partner in charge of the office.

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